For those interested in old cars.

[Wolseley]

Ancient Mustang front seats cannot be fixed in the upright position.....right from new. Ford didn't make them lockable!!

 

 

Must be a Ford thing - the Cortina I was driving back in the 1970s had front seats that were hinged so you could tilt them forward and they weren't lockable.  The weird thing was that it was a four door car.....

[keefr2]

Must be a Ford thing - the Cortina I was driving back in the 1970s had front seats that were hinged so you could tilt them forward and they weren't lockable.  The weird thing was that it was a four door car.....

I think lots of 60's/70's cars had seats like that - I remember drilling holes in the floor in my first rally Escort to use exhaust 'U' clamps to bolt the standard seats to the floor, until I could afford proper competition seats! Recall friends with a Mini & Hillman Imp doing the same...

[great central]

Must be a Ford thing - the Cortina I was driving back in the 1970s had front seats that were hinged so you could tilt them forward and they weren't lockable.  The weird thing was that it was a four door car.....

 

I had a Morris 1100 for my first car, 4 doors, front seats on hinges as well. And before anyone says anything it was a great car, very comfortable

[Kelly]

The'64 HA Viva I had for a time had seats with no means of locking them down.

[PhilJ W]

Most cars with two doors had tilting seats that were unsecured before about 1970.

[Horsetan]

Must be a Ford thing - the Cortina I was driving back in the 1970s had front seats that were hinged so you could tilt them forward and they weren't lockable.  The weird thing was that it was a four door car.....

 

My oul man had a Mk.3 Cortina 4-door and the front seats could swing forwards or backwards. Now I look back on it, I wonder if this was a cost-saving measure so that they only had to provide a single type of front seat mechanism for all their Cortinas, rather than tooling up for 2 and 4-door cars? Not that they sold very many of the former in Britain.

[royaloak]

My oul man had a Mk.3 Cortina 4-door and the front seats could swing forwards or backwards. Now I look back on it, I wonder if this was a cost-saving measure so that they only had to provide a single type of front seat mechanism for all their Cortinas, rather than tooling up for 2 and 4-door cars? Not that they sold very many of the former in Britain.

My Dad had a 2 door mark 3 Cortina 2000GT, Lovely car but those doors were huge.

[PatB]

I always thought the 2-door Mk3 was a really attractive car. A sort of 3/4 scale Yank muscle car. Must be near 40 years since I actually saw one though.

Edited April 4, 2018 by PatB

[Wolseley]

The Mark III was made in Australia with the inline six-cylinder engines (3.3- and 4.1-litre) from the Falcon as well as the more familiar four cylinder.  I never drove one but I did know someone who had one and apparently the handling on corners was slightly compromised by the extra weight up front.  They also had what Ford called a "power bulge" in the bonnet, basically because the Falcon's engine didn't quite fit in.

 

 

Edit: the Mark IV and V were also available with the Falcon's sixes.

Edited April 5, 2018 by Wolseley

[Guest]

My oul man had a Mk.3 Cortina 4-door and the front seats could swing forwards or backwards. Now I look back on it, I wonder if this was a cost-saving measure so that they only had to provide a single type of front seat mechanism for all their Cortinas, rather than tooling up for 2 and 4-door cars? Not that they sold very many of the former in Britain.

 

In a similar less helpful manner BL saved on the Marina's tooling by giving the two door the same little doors off the four door.

[MinZaPint]

Seen outside the pub at lunchtime, sorry about the pic quality, taken with my cheapo phone camera.

 

 

beautifully restored.

[RANGERS]

The'64 HA Viva I had for a time had seats with no means of locking them down.

I had a Cortina 1600E with a similar arrangement on the front doors, nothing seemed to be able to lock those with any degree of security whatsoever. Keys were a superfluous accessory when all you needed was (chose any one) a dinner knife, a screwdriver, a paper clip, a Yale key to my front door, a brickies pointing trowel, a broken hacksaw blade, all of which were tried successfully in gaining entry. A pal of mine reckoned a card betting ticket, the type the on course bookies used to use, also did the trick.

[Horsetan]

I had a Cortina 1600E with a similar arrangement on the front doors, nothing seemed to be able to lock those with any degree of security whatsoever. Keys were a superfluous accessory when all you needed was (chose any one) a dinner knife, a screwdriver, a paper clip, a Yale key to my front door, a brickies pointing trowel, a broken hacksaw blade, all of which were tried successfully in gaining entry.....

This explains why several attempts were made to nick my oul man's earlier Mk.2 1600E off the front drive. The only thing that stopped the thieves on each occasion was the Krooklok. They did manage to wreck the original steering wheel, and also run off with the rev counter. He sold it in 1977, replacing it with the Mk.3 1600L Decor.

Edited April 5, 2018 by Horsetan

[Rugd1022]

Chatting with some old school Lotus bods this week I'm told a well set up Europa is exceptionally good in the wet, the only down side being the rain tends to get into the engine bay through the four horizontal  gauze covered air vents in the rear deck lid...

 

Night night...!

 

 

 

[Southern Steve]

Odd cat the Europa, the early cars had no opening windows! 

 

Chapman decided  that the thro ventilation was so good they were not necessary, however the Mk 2 got them.

 

 

I knew someone that had the early car, he said it was akin to a mobile greenhouse..

[Kelly]

I had a Cortina 1600E with a similar arrangement on the front doors, nothing seemed to be able to lock those with any degree of security whatsoever. Keys were a superfluous accessory when all you needed was (chose any one) a dinner knife, a screwdriver, a paper clip, a Yale key to my front door, a brickies pointing trowel, a broken hacksaw blade, all of which were tried successfully in gaining entry. A pal of mine reckoned a card betting ticket, the type the on course bookies used to use, also did the trick.

The locks on the Viva were laughable really. You could unlock the door with a penny sometimes if you got the angle right.

 

That car also had no seatbelts, crossplies, clear indicators and drum brakes that tended to fade badly. Great fun!

[sandwich station]

They also had what Ford called a "power bulge" in the bonnet, basically because the Falcon's engine didn't quite fit in.

Any car that had a bulge like that in the UK was classed as having a power bulge, not just Fords.

[Fat Controller]

Any car that had a bulge like that in the UK was classed as having a power bulge, not just Fords.

A 'codpiece for cars'?  

[alastairq]

Australia Ford's  'Falcon' sixes were excellent engines...probably an improvement on the original US design?  Very strong, the tuning of the Ford six I think relied heavily on the Australian developments..especially cylinder head re-designs. Not good for short distance shopping trips, however.

[PhilJ W]

Any car that had a bulge like that in the UK was classed as having a power bulge, not just Fords.

MGC anyone?

[PatB]

Australia Ford's  'Falcon' sixes were excellent engines...probably an improvement on the original US design?  Very strong, the tuning of the Ford six I think relied heavily on the Australian developments..especially cylinder head re-designs. Not good for short distance shopping trips, however.

 

The latish (1986), alloy headed example I had was utter rubbish. A horrible engine that didn't go as well as it should have done, had a drinking problem, screamed CHEAP from every design feature and appeared to be made out of cheese. To be fair, I believe earlier, all-iron units were somewhat better.

[runs as required]

Seen outside the pub at lunchtime, sorry about the pic quality, taken with my cheapo phone camera.

 

IMG_20180405_150427.jpg

 

beautifully restored.

Was that Big Seven still only 750 cc ?

There were still a lot around in the 1950s, much driven by spinster school teachers.

dh

[PatB]

Was that Big Seven still only 750 cc ?

There were still a lot around in the 1950s, much driven by spinster school teachers.

dh

 

Nah, the Big 7 engine was, IIRC, nearer 900cc and a significantly more modern design than the original 7 lump. I think it was more closely related to the Austin 10 unit.

[keefr2]

I had a Cortina 1600E with a similar arrangement on the front doors, nothing seemed to be able to lock those with any degree of security whatsoever. Keys were a superfluous accessory when all you needed was (chose any one) a dinner knife, a screwdriver, a paper clip, a Yale key to my front door, a brickies pointing trowel, a broken hacksaw blade, all of which were tried successfully in gaining entry. A pal of mine reckoned a card betting ticket, the type the on course bookies used to use, also did the trick.

 

Seems a common feature of many Fords of the era - opened the door of my Escort & started it using my mate's Hillman Imp door key! However my Escort key wouldn't open the Imp....

[shortliner]

Seems a common feature of many Fords of the era - opened the door of my Escort & started it using my mate's Hillman Imp door key! However my Escort key wouldn't open the Imp....

I remember a mate, who locked his key inside, having his Mexico unlocked with a piece of silver paper from a fag-packet by another guy on the course. His face was a picture!

Edited April 6, 2018 by shortliner